Imperfections
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: None of us are perfect... but we don't always show our flaws. (Co-written with Cry-Of-A-Warp-Engine)
1. Pulled In Two Directions

_**1/22/16, NXT Taping scheduled to air 2/24/16, ten minutes earlier…**_

 _Alex continued on with his part of the show, eyes locked on the camera as he was stating what he felt was wrong with NXT… Amanda hadn't intended to eavesdrop but the second she heard Alex mention her and Finn, her ears perked up, she closed her caramel colored lipstick and she leaned against the wall, the lace sleeves of her black cold shoulder dress nearly hanging off her tiny frame._

 _Alex walked away afterwards and the cameraman walked over to Amanda, camera still rolling._

" _Mandy, anything to say?"_

" _Not now." Amanda said before leaving, obviously feeling like she had the rug pulled out from under her…_

 **Present time…**

"Was there something I did to piss you off?"

Alex turned around from his duffel bag to see Amanda, her arms crossed and leaned against the door… and then he realised that Amanda overheard him, Alex walking to the brunette who had been his friend for nearly 8 years and resting his hands on her arms… it was scripted what he said but Alex could see that Amanda was genuinely hurt by it.

"In terms of our scripted lives, yeah… but the scripts aren't controlled by us at all." Alex answered.

"You could've warned me beforehand… you used to do that, Alex." Amanda said, unfolding her arms as Alex held her hands in his… and her yanking them away. "You've been in my life since I was a teenager… hell, the storyline feud with you and Mike never affected us and him. But since you've been on commentary, it's like you've grown some sort of resentment towards us who still get in that ring! It is not fair to blindside us on camera, a little heads up would've been the professional thing to do!" She said, turning to leave but Alex gripped her right wrist roughly and forced her to look back at him.

"The professional thing to do would have been to not stick your nose into it in the first place!" Alex responded in a growl.

"Well excuse the hell outta me for trying to figure out why you've been distant to me since NXT TakeOver Brooklyn!" Amanda replied angrily, trying to pull her wrist out of his hand but Alex gripped onto her tighter. "You're gonna pull my arm out of its socket if you don't let go!" She yelled, Alex clamping his right hand to her mouth and observing how she was dressed, the makeup she wore on her face and the noticeable scent of her Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds perfume… and backing away a few steps.

"Balor's won your _unscripted_ heart too, ain't he?! _There's_ my fucking problem!" Alex shouted after a few seconds.

"We were planning on heading out somewhere nice." Amanda responded before both saw Finn, who immediately put Amanda behind him… he was also dressed nicely, Giorgio Armani cologne as a finishing touch.

"Leave her the hell alone, she just wanted to know why you said what you said!" Finn said, his right hand gripping Amanda's left one.

Alex left and Finn turned to Amanda, examining her wrist… to his surprise, it wasn't bruised but it was clear she was shaken and he pulled her into his arms.

"I'd like to send him into the warpath of Brock Lesnar, that would set him straight." Amanda said quietly as they looked at each other.

"Probably… if they only had Scared Straight for adults, hey?" Finn replied, his hand lightly brushing over her cheek.

"Yeah…" Amanda said before they let go and headed out to the restaurant.

At Ocean Prime, the two were enjoying their dinner and a few glasses of Disaronno when John and Nikki walked into the restaurant and saw them.

"I thought they normally headed out somewhere low key after the shows…" Nikki said curiously, John narrowing his eyes as he saw Finn's right arm wrap around Amanda's back. "John, you alright?" She responded, John looking at her.

"Yeah, just… wasn't expecting to see this…" John answered, his eyes flicking between them and where their arms were.

"You're not gonna crash their night out, are-" Nikki started to say, John heading to the table and sitting down.

"Uh… hi, John…" Amanda said nervously as Nikki reached them and sat down next to John. "Hey, Nikki…" She replied as John noticed that Finn was starting to move his hand off of Amanda's shoulder.

"Hey, you keep your hand there pal, don't let me intimidate ya… I just thought that since we've ended up in the same place, we may as well all eat together, if that's alright." John responded.

"Yeah, it's okay." Finn and Amanda said simultaneously.

When the four were eating, John noticed that Amanda was on her third glass of Disaronno and saw a hint of glassiness in her hazel eyes.

"Hey, you alright there? Don't you drink too much now, lil' sis." John said, after nudging her leg with his foot below the table.

"Yeah… just had three back to back tapings tonight, they got a bit hectic… Alex and I got into a little fight." Amanda responded, John resting his hand on the back of her head and lightly rubbing it. "I don't think he likes me anymore…" She said quietly, John setting his hand down as Finn rubbed Amanda's back and Nikki reached over and lightly rubbed Amanda's forearm.

"People just change over time… and some people adapt, some people don't. Sometimes it's inevitable, sometimes by choice… but we're always the same person, deep inside." John replied.

And without realising it first, while he'd been saying that about Alex towards Amanda, he'd actually also been convincing himself of the same thing about Amanda and Finn, who he was starting to realise had a relationship brewing... and it wasn't far from hitting sunrise.

John just hoped that this time around that love would work out for Amanda.


	2. Taken Aback By It

**Meanwhile…**

"You alright there, pal? Where's your little hazel eyed drinking buddy?" Austin Aries asked after walking into the hotel bar and finding Alex drinking, Alex looking at him. "What happened, Riley? You don't normally drink without Mandy. Is she sick?" He responded.

"He's got his hooks into her now…" Alex slurred, downing the rest of his beer.

"Who? Someone she's trying to reconnect with?" Austin asked after sitting down.

"No… the Irishman whose bed she's dying to jump into." Alex answered, leaning back in the chair a bit.

"You really don't believe all of what's being said, right? Come on, Mandy's always been an honest girl… I haven't seen her in a while but I've known her since she was 15." Austin said.

"All the little imperfections that made her who she was… they're not there anymore." Alex replied.

"Something happen tonight prompting you to say that, was it something unintentional?" Austin asked, Alex letting out a humorless laugh.

"She was wearing a little black lace dress and heels, makeup done similar to the one and only Elizabeth Taylor and perfume as the finishing touch… the Mandy I knew was more comfortable in a pair of leggings and a tank top after the shows!" Alex responded before feeling a finger poke him and seeing Zosha. "You are so quiet at times… want a drink?" He said, having met her back in August.

"I'm not a big drinker… but you need to be nicer to your friend." Zosha replied.

"She needs to learn who should be the priority…" Alex said, stopping as he saw how Zosha looked at him.

"The priority is those who won't go nuts and judge her by her decisions! Look at me, right now. What do you judge me by, hey? My height? My black eyes? Three fingered hands and claws on my toes, lights on my back as if I've had some sort of neon tattoo?" Zosha responded, before Alex jumped slightly as he heard her voice in his mind, but her mouth clearly didn't move. _"My 'quietness'?"_

"I never once judged you, Zosha…" Alex replied.

"I know you haven't because you see me… but you don't see the Mandy that you knew." Zosha said.

"I miss that little spitfire." Alex whispered.

"And I miss the more human looking version of me that I was before the war… but there's no going back to what was sometimes. Sometimes we have to accept what we have, even embrace it if possible… but if we don't accept some things, then we will lose them entirely. There's no middle ground, you can't expect to stand in the middle of No Man's Land for long without either or both sides shooting you eventually." Zosha responded in the same quiet tone.

Zosha and Austin helped Alex up and towards the elevator.

At the same time, John was driving himself, Nikki, Amanda and Finn back towards the house and heard Amanda giggling drunkenly in the backseat.

"You… you really should... see what… goes on backstage at the NXT shows, you two." Amanda said.

"How did three glasses of alcohol disorient her so quickly?" Nikki responded, starting to worry about Amanda's health.

"Stress plus lightweight makes an extra-lightweight… a drinking featherweight, even." John replied as he slowed up, turning off of the bigger road onto the ones around the houses.

"Tends to… feeling okay, Mandy?" Finn responded, leaning Amanda against him.

"Yeah… just needed to unwind tonight." Amanda answered as she saw the house and felt the car slow to a stop before John put it in park and shut the engine off. John and Nikki got out, John opening the side door as Finn helped unbuckle Amanda before unbuckling himself and helping her out, his arm secured around her back.

"Damn right you do, can hardly hold yourself up right now." Finn replied as he helped her slowly into the house.

Josie and Winston barked, Brie and Daniel lightly hushing the dogs.

"Oh no, what happened?!" Brie asked as she and Daniel ran over, Finn helping Amanda sit down as Josie growled at Finn. "Josie, be nice." She said.

"It's okay, she's just not used to me yet… and Mandy kind of got into an argument with Alex earlier so she and I headed out, John and Nikki joined us and Mandy had a bit too much to drink." Finn answered, sitting down and helping Amanda lean against him.

Josie barked a few times, Brie crouching down to her and Josie making a little whining noise at her and Brie scratching Josie's ears.

"Finn is a safe person, Josie, and Mandy will be alright. She's gonna sleep it off." Brie said to Josie, as she rubbed her hand through the fur on the back of Josie's head.

Josie nuzzled Amanda's feet, Amanda smiling and petting her.

"Love you too, Josie girl." Amanda whispered before Josie backed up and Finn helped Amanda upstairs. "She's the polar opposite of Winston, he doesn't growl and bark at many people." She said as she rested her right hand on Finn's left shoulder so she could take her heeled shoes off, Amanda stepping back to her normal 5'1" height. "That's better… sorry about tonight." She whispered as she tried to reach back and untie her dress.

"That's alright, hey… come here, let me give you a hand." Finn replied before he lightly pried her hands away and untied the dress for her.

"Much better…" Amanda said before slipping the lace material off and managing to get her clothes set out for bed as Finn undressed himself as well and pulled some pajamas on. "I'm gonna go try to sober up a bit…" She responded before heading to the shower.

Finn looked around and picked up an old photo of Amanda… in it, she looked about 14 and by her side was Chris Benoit, the two wearing New Year's hats… he put it down and saw another one.

In the second one, Amanda was 16… but she didn't have that same childlike innocence.

"Such a short time to change so much…" Finn said quietly to himself.

Looking outside, Finn saw the late January fog start to set in and ignored his phone chiming before seeing Amanda emerge from the bathroom, face clean of any makeup and her in fuzzy pajamas pants and a tank top.

"Much better now…" Amanda said as she sat down.

"Nice shower always does the… trick…" Finn replied, sitting down beside her and slowing and trailing off as he felt a sudden sharp pain in his lungs, and narrowed and cringed his eyes as his hand went to the top of his sternum. "The hell…"

Amanda reached behind her to dial 911… but Finn stopped her as the pain faded away, him seeing tears in Amanda's eyes.

"It's alright… I'm fine, that was just… weird… I could only describe it as being almost stabbed." Finn said quietly, as he pulled Amanda into his arms and lightly stroked her hair once his hands were behind her.

Amanda nodded as the two stretched out on the bed and Finn rested his hand on her face to brush the tears away.


	3. I'll Always Worry

Sometime in the middle of the night, Finn opened his eyes when he heard Amanda let out a sleepy cry and reach her hand behind her to where her lower back was, having felt a sharp ache go through her left kidney. Finn lowered his right hand and lightly massaged the area… but Amanda's eyes opened, tears running down her face.

In the cracked open doorway, Finn saw Winston looking at him, the dog whining in concern before taking off.

Winston ran down the hall and managed to open the door to John and Nikki's room, running in and jumping onto the bed, nudging John and waking him and Nikki up with a few barks before pointing his paw out the door as John petted him.

"Last time he barked like this, Mandy was healing from her kidney injury." Nikki said quietly, her and John standing up and heading down the hallway before pushing the bedroom door open and walking over.

"You two look terrible, what happened?" John asked as Finn helped Amanda sit up.

"Either through a nightmare being too real or a real muscle spasm… kidney pain, lower back." Finn explained.

"Damn it… Mandy, how bad is the pain?" John asked.

"I feel like I was jabbed with a fire poker…" Amanda responded, John putting his hand to her forehead.

Downstairs, Josie saw the door open and a small outline in the dark and growled before she saw Zosha more clearly and calmed down. Josie pointed her head up the staircase, Zosha sensing it.

"Zosha, you okay?" Daniel asked sleepily as he walked downstairs.

"Okay? I can't…" Zosha tried to respond… before Josie started to go crazy around her as she leant against the wall, and Daniel's eyes widened as he saw her fingers had left purple coloured Zorolian blood on the wall, from just one of many wounds across her body.

Daniel wrapped a blanket around Zosha and carefully picked her up, Zosha looking at him.

"Alex tried to run into traffic like a drunken idiot… it took me, Austin, Baron and Enzo to hold him down but when I stood up…" Zosha explained, Daniel seeing the imprint of a Toyota logo embedded in Zosha's back.

"He kicked you into the traffic!" Daniel growled, holding back the rage he felt as he carried Zosha into the living room, Josie barking loudly as the smell of blood and the knowledge that Zosha was suffering sent her mad, the bark being a loud call for help.

Brie rushed downstairs after hearing it, crouching to Zosha, who looked at her.

"Upstairs… something happened, they're feeling what you're feeling…" Brie whispered.

"Instinctive… telepathic distress call…" Zosha whispered in response, trying her strongest to keep her eyes open.

But she closed them… and heard distant thoughts.

' _Zosha… please, you can't put it off completely… you have to heal.'_

' _I know… and so do you…'_ Zosha responded in Amanda's mind.

Without warning, Amanda's eyes closed and Finn, John and Nikki turned frantic, trying to wake her.

"She's not convulsing… but why is she out?" Finn responded, leaning in and hearing Amanda's heart beating normally, her breathing normal as well.

"Unless Zosha put her into sleep so she could rest." John said, checking the thermometer and seeing that Amanda's temperature was 100.5°.

Amanda's mind started to untangle itself and she started to feel lucid…

' _Come on…' Amanda thought as she waited for the footsteps to approach and stepped out of the shadows, Alex seeing her._

" _Mandy… such a surprise…" Alex said quietly, stepping back a bit._

" _Yeah… and once again, I thought we were in a good place… but since you resigned with the company, you've avoided me." Amanda responded, Alex noticing the absence of the hoodie and looking down, seeing Amanda's growing baby bump. "Alex, tell me you're not the same person you were that night." She said as the two looked each other at their eye level… and she jumped slightly as one of the twins elbowed her in her ribcage, Amanda resting her right hand on her stomach and rubbing it as the second twin was now awake and kicking._

" _I… might not have agreed with Finn, but… I'm with you having kids, Mandy, you can rest assured of that." Alex responded._

" _Thank you." Amanda replied before the first twin kicked and Alex chuckled a bit at Amanda's facial expression. "Hyper, much like her mother." She said._

" _I was about to say, quite an active pair in there." Alex agreed._

" _Boy and girl…" Amanda said, Alex smiling._

" _Now that is real special. It's not often that you get twins, even more that they're separate genders." Alex replied, stepping over to her._

" _Yeah… here." Amanda responded, gently placing Alex's hand right under hers and Alex jumping slightly as the twins responded with kicking and elbowing against it._

" _Strong ones too… wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them took up a place in the ring. Who knows? Wrestlemania 62…" Alex replied with a chuckle at the end._

" _Biggest show of the year…" Amanda said with a smile…_

Amanda's head rested to her right side, Finn lightly dabbing the soaked washcloth on her forehead, face and neck as she mumbled sleepily.

"Hey, it's alright… just cooling you off." Finn whispered as he lightly pressed the cloth to the different areas of her above her shoulder level.

Amanda nodded and settled back into sleep, Finn hearing his phone chime and seeing a second text from Hunter.

' _John called, how is she?'_

' _Fever's going down slowly.'_ Finn replied, turning back to Amanda.

Amanda's mind began to wander again…

" _Mandy, you home?" Finn asked after walking into the house._

" _Upstairs…" Amanda called out, Finn heading up the steps after closing the door and into their room… four tests were on the nightstand, face down. "Haven't checked them yet… scared to." She said after he sat down next to her, taking her right hand into his left one._

" _I'm here with you, Mandy… no matter the result or what anyone else thinks or says, we're going through this together, hand in hand through the fire or the ice." Finn replied, raising up their hands halfway in front of them as he said the last part._

 _Amanda took a deep breath and flipped over the first one… then the second, third and fourth… all of them read Positive 3-4 weeks and her and Finn hugged and kissed each other._

" _It's really happening…" Amanda whispered with happy tears in her eyes._

" _Like I always said… nothing is impossible if we really try, and… we did." Finn replied with the same tears and an inconcealable smile. "And our miracle… is exactly that."_

" _Yes it is… it could be twins, I just realised that with both sides of our families that twins are a strong chance." Amanda said as they stretched out on their bed, Finn resting his right hand on her stomach. "They're gonna be running around the hallways of arenas like I did as a child… Hunter chasing after them even when he's nearing 60."_

" _And having given them the candy and soda in the first place…" Finn whispered before he held Amanda in his arms…_

In the Performance Centre, Hunter was getting everything sorted for the Royal Rumble in Orlando and Raw in Miami when he saw Stephanie.

"Anything from Mandy?" Stephanie asked after walking in and sitting down next to Hunter.

"Nothing much other than John saying that she was at the house, unwell… but also that our little alien friend showed up, badly injured and bleeding all over." Hunter answered, his hand resting on top of hers.

"She has to use another cycle…" Stephanie whispered.

"Depending on the severity, she might not wake up right away." Hunter responded.

"I remember… she said that the healing comas can last anything from a few minutes to several weeks." Stephanie replied with a nod.

"They can…" Hunter said before looking at the door, seeing that Wade had dragged Alex in.

"He's bloody driving me crazy!" Wade replied, forcing a hungover Alex to sit down.

"I can't remember a damn thing from the past few days." Alex said, Stephanie handing him a bottle of water after opening it. "Thanks, ma'am." He responded, slowly drinking it.

"You don't remember yelling at and grabbing Mandy?" Wade asked, Hunter looking right at Alex.

"I don't know… I don't think I even clearly remember getting outta bed yesterday." Alex responded.

"Blind drunk… but you need to sober up fully. And give Mandy her space, she's come down with some kind of virus." Hunter replied, Alex's blue eyes widening in shock.

At the same time in the house, Amanda's eyes opened as she looked between her and Finn and saw Josie with her head on Finn's right arm.

"I think she's starting to like you." Amanda said, her voice raspy and Finn seeing that Josie was nuzzling his hand and Finn petting her. "You think Zosha's still asleep?" She asked.

"I think she would have let us know if she was up yet…" Finn started to answer, trailing off as cautiously, Nikki stepped into the room.

"I heard you ask if she was up… Answer, no. Worse… she said that a healing coma was supposed to appear almost like death… not a raging temperature and unconscious vomiting, we just had to help her have the strength to actually throw up properly and not suffocate on it by blocking the throat." Nikki explained.

Amanda tried to sit up, feeling the ringing sound hit her ears and dizziness take over as Finn and Nikki helped her lie down on her side… and it wasn't a subtle ringing either, Amanda burying her head into the pillow to try to silence it and Josie whimpering and letting small cries out, Nikki petting her.

Downstairs, Winston was lying next to Zosha and resting his head on her shoulder, nudging her to try to wake her and then looking at John with sad eyes.

"I know, boy… even though it's so she can get better, it's still scary." John responded quietly. Over time of knowing Zosha, she'd become the same sort of little sister that he saw in Amanda in some ways, his hold on her was looser but the care and protective instinct was the same.

Winston nodded and looked at Zosha, silently pleading for her to wake up.

Sometime in the night, Zosha did as her sharp senses startled her into awareness and she saw Amanda.

"You scared me… when you were out…" Amanda whispered, Zosha hearing a slight sniffle from her and noticing the calming scents of mint and tea tree and recognising it as Amanda's conditioner and body soap.

"Nice smell…" Zosha said quietly, Amanda turning towards her… And Zosha jumping back in fright, almost across the whole room as her eyes went gaping wide and the claws of her bare feet gripped into the floorboards.

"Hey… hey, it's alright, Zosha…" Amanda responded, lightly stroking Zosha's hair and Zosha wrapping her right hand around Amanda's fingers in a gentle manner, her seeing the onyx nail color on Amanda's nails.

"It's… Almost like my eyes." Zosha whispered, her hands still shaking slightly with a tensed up fear.

She let go and rested her hands on both sides of Amanda's head, closing her eyes.

"Zosha-" Amanda started to say.

"Shh… have to focus… closeness resulting in anger… very strong anger. Chaos from outside media… how do you… put up with it?" Zosha responded.

Amanda had no answer to give… she didn't know one.


	4. Rumble And SmackDown Madness

**The next night…**

"Sorry we can't be there, Sami." Amanda said as she was on a video chat with Sami and waiting for the Royal Rumble to start, Amanda having distracted herself earlier by letting Nikki give her a manicure with Essie's Sew Psyched and pedicure with Essie's Stylenomics.

"Hey, that's alright. Your recovery is more important than an appearance on the show, talking to you through here is enough to settle me." Sami replied.

"How's everyone over there, anyone-" Amanda started to ask before a girl of about 15 in a Balor Club shirt walked up behind Sami and glared into the screen.

"Miss, can you please go back to your seat?" Sami asked the green eyed blonde haired teen, who continued to glare at Amanda before deciding to speak.

"Is she the reason he's not here?!" The teen asked angrily.

"She's not feeling well-" Sami started to say.

"Of course she isn't, anything to steal him! Well let me suggest something, there's a cure that works for _any_ sickness. All you need is a sharp knife, and an exposed wrist or throat-" The teen started to respond.

"That's a lowdown shot, you little brat! Bullying someone doesn't build you up or make you better than anyone!" Amanda snapped at her, the green eyed girl narrowing her eyes at Amanda.

"Oh I forgot how 'holier than thou' you are! Well let me tell you now, next time you're in that ring I'll show you who's the fucking bully!" The teenage girl shouted.

She turned around… and was face to face with Aestrid, who was looking at her.

"How about you go back to your seat before I show you what a real bully is like, little bitch." Aestrid said menacingly, the girl scurrying away as Aestrid saw Finn sit down next to Amanda.

"What the hell is with fans these days?" Finn asked.

"Yandere Simulator is all I'll say about that, Mr. Balor. How are you lot doing over there?" Aestrid responded.

"Well Zosha's finally awake…" Amanda replied before turning away from the screen and covering her mouth to muffle a sneeze, Finn lightly rubbing his hand up and down her back.

"Sounds like she ain't the only one, a cold is awake too." Sami responded, Aestrid nodding in agreement.

"Not funny, Sami." Finn said as Amanda went to go wash her hands.

"But true though." Aestrid replied.

"Yeah… damn cold and flu season." Amanda responded after sitting back down, Aestrid and Sami seeing Finn pull the covers up over Amanda.

"Freezing over there?" Sami asked, Amanda nodding.

"Chills will go away at some point, just stay warm til then." Aestrid responded before they ended the video call when the pay per view started.

In the middle of the ring in the Amway Centre stood Kevin Owens and he was none too pleased with Amanda's absence from the show though he was in character… the Orlando crowd expressed their anger towards him, loudly chanting for the woman they affectionately called their Demon Mistress.

And it only made Kevin angrier… so much so that he went off script and yelled in French, Finn turning and seeing Amanda's eyes narrow.

"You understand what he's saying?" Finn asked.

"Chaque mot." Amanda responded, looking back at Finn. "I've spoken French since I was 10." She explained before Kevin took a minute and looked right at the camera as though he was looking right at them.

"Garde ton pantalon ou je t'enlèverai ta bite, Balor!" Kevin growled at the camera, before returning his attention to the audience.

"The hell is his problem?" Finn and Amanda asked each other… before seeing Hunter get into the ring and pull the microphone away from Kevin.

"You realise she knows everything you said and cleared it up for him, do you?!" Hunter growled lowly.

Amanda whispered the English version to Finn, who was shocked and angered by the mutilation threat.

"He's within inches of that being too damn far!" Finn said lowly.

"Damn right he is… don't know why he would care though." Amanda responded before the camera cut to the back with Renee interviewing Sami.

"It's clear that what he said was way beyond the family friendly guidelines. Sami, are you at all shocked by your former friend's words?" Renee questioned after finding her voice again, putting the microphone near Sami's mouth.

"Shocked and horrified… Kevin needs to watch what he says on Tv, there are young children in the audience and watching from their homes. Including his own." Sami explained.

"I forgot, Owen and Elodie are watching… and if they just heard their father threaten to mutilate you… I hope Karina muted the volume on their Tv in time." Amanda said quietly.

"Maybe it's a good thing he said it in French, so they hopefully won't understand too much of it." Finn replied.

At the Amway Centre, Kevin walked into his locker room and heard his phone ring… he answered it and immediately heard her.

"You son of a bitch! You realise you could get into a hell of a lot of trouble for that, right?!" Karina yelled, having walked outside so the kids wouldn't hear her.

"Karina, just calm down-" Kevin started to say.

"I think you need to stay on the road for a while, don't come back right away! Our son understands everything you said because he looked up the translation on his phone, he asked me why you threatened your co-worker!" Karina responded, startling Kevin. "Stay on the road!" She said, hanging up and walking back into the house.

Kevin pressed the end call button and turned to the locker room door, which was still open… and him seeing a pissed off Bayley.

"Now Bayley-" Kevin started to respond, cut off by her kicking her right foot up between his legs and him groaning in pain and falling to his knees before Bayley grabbed him by the neckline of his shirt.

"That was way out of line. You stupid son of a bitch!" Bayley hissed, yelling halfway through.

"I didn't think you have a temper!" Kevin said after standing back up, Bayley lowering her right hand to her side… and then giving Kevin a hard slap across his face, Kevin reeling back.

"Threaten Finn, Mandy or anyone again, you'll find out that my temper is a whole hell of a lot worse than yours." Bayley growled before leaving.

Back at the Cena house, John, Nikki, Brie and Daniel looked right at Zosha… who looked back at them.

"That was damn wrong of him…" Zosha muttered, John going to check on Amanda.

She wasn't crying or showing any other signs of sadness or anger… but John knew his sister too well and walked over, sitting down and pulling her into a hug, Amanda wrapping her arms around him… and when they let go, he noticed the look in her eyes, meaning that she was tempted to give into a prank.

"You thinking of ways to get back at him?" John questioned quietly.

"Yes… but that would just make him angrier. So I got a better idea." Amanda replied.

 **Two days later…**

The Amway Centre was once again jam packed and Amanda had her earbuds in, listening to Albert King while reading a script as Kevin casually sat down next to her in the cafeteria and poked her left forearm… but Amanda didn't react.

"Hey… anyone home?" Kevin questioned with a whistle in the middle. "Huh…" He muttered, looking around the room as he still gained no reply.

Amanda circled a line in the script and wrote down something that Kevin identified as a memo to talk to Stephanie about it, Kevin nudging a nearby chair and Sasha looking at him.

"She's zoned out, Owens. That's what happens when anyone listens to the blues." Sasha said.

"Suppose that's true…" Kevin replied, before he pressed the nail of his index finger to the face of his thumb, and flicked at Amanda's right earbud, knocking it out of place.

"You know you've done me wrong and you'll be sorry someday." Amanda sang after putting her earbud back in, Kevin recognising the lyric from _The Thrill Is Gone_ by B.B King… and narrowing his eyes.

"Hey…" Kevin said once more... before he grabbed a spoon from the next table, held it handle down and reared to stab it through Amanda's phone.

She quickly moved it to one side at the last second, the spoon handle instead leaving a small dent in the wood of the table top where the phone had been.

"That's what I get for ignoring you?" Amanda responded, closing out her IHeartRadio app and putting her phone and earbuds in her Balor Club hoodie.

"You obviously ain't gonna pay attention otherwise! At least it's better than giving you a whack on the shoulder which you seem convinced that I'm capable of doing!" Kevin replied angrily.

"You fucked up Sami's shoulder last year, then convinced yourself that it was what he deserved… I thought before that had happened that you and I were friends and then you started throwing my past in my face. So what, I decide to ignore you and you turn into even more of a jackass?!" Amanda said, Kevin grabbing her up to her feet by her hoodie and Sasha going to find Finn.

But by the time she did, both heard a crash.

"You taught her to flip someone into a table, right?" Sasha asked as they ran back… but found Kevin on the floor with the broken table around him and Amanda on her knees, which were scraped and bruised up which Finn saw when he helped her to her feet as Zosha ran in, med kit in hand.

"The last time I got shoved down to my knees, I couldn't walk normally for a week!" Amanda hissed, Finn helping her sit down as Zosha patched up Amanda's knees.

"You should be used to being on your knees!" Kevin shouted after pulling himself up… and Finn losing it and grabbing Kevin and punching him.

Another fight broke out… only to be interrupted by Hunter and Stephanie, Hunter pulling Finn towards Amanda.

"You two, trainers office! Steph, go with them and get the full story!" Hunter responded, Stephanie guiding Amanda and Finn out of the cafeteria before Hunter turned to Kevin. "I told you this would come back to bite you!" He growled before gesturing Kevin to follow him.

Kevin hung his head down a bit as he did… he was in trouble even if he wouldn't get suspended or fired.


	5. We're All Human

_**7/31/13…**_

 _One nighters weren't normally her thing, she had told herself that a long time ago… but it had been so long since she had felt that strong need for comfort and Alex knew that._

 _He lightly ran his fingers across her bare flesh as she curled into him, the two kissing before falling asleep._

 _Walking into the room he and the other Shield members shared with Amanda, Seth dropped his duffel bag… and he immediately saw red when he saw her in the bed and him passed out next to her in his drunken state._

 _Seth snapped, pulling Alex off the bed and beating on him even as he screamed and Amanda tried to break it up, screaming at Seth to stop and saying that Alex was just sleeping next to her and hadn't done anything wrong. Seth turned and tossed Amanda to the ground before turning back and continuing to attack Alex, not noticing that he had caused Amanda's head to bleed._

" _Seth, stop it this fucking second!" Amanda yelled as she tried to pull Seth off of Alex again but again, Seth threw her to the ground._

 _"She's telling the-" Alex started to say before the coffee pot was bashed over his head._

 _"Put your hands on her, huh?! Fuck my Shield sister?! How fucking dare you, Riley?!" Seth yelled as he started strangling Alex… until Roman managed to pull him off of Alex and Dean tried to calm a traumatized Amanda as Alex was covered with a blanket up to his shoulders._

 _Thinking quickly, Dean put his shirt on an eerily quiet Amanda and took her out of there as Alex was taken away on a stretcher when the paramedics got there, Seth taken away in handcuffs when the police showed up._

" _Amanda? Hey, it's-" Dean said softly, Amanda screaming in terror and scrambling away from Dean after he touched her shoulders. "No, hey, it's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you, baby girl, it's okay." He whispered, picking a frightened Amanda up into his arms as all four heard security guards run in and Seth screaming as they tackled him while paramedics ran in and strapped Alex to a backboard._

 _Dean took an eerily quiet Amanda out of there as she rested her sore head against his right shoulder and to Renee's room, setting her on the bed._

 _"Seth went batshit after finding Alex passed out next to Mandy. Go grab her things, please." Dean responded, Renee lightly rubbing her hand up and down Amanda's back before leaving. She glared at Seth as he was dragged out of the disheveled room, Seth's hands cuffed._

 _When Renee returned, Amanda was curled up in Dean's arms and had given in to her exhaustion. Feeling terrible for the younger woman, Renee set the things down and pulled the covers over Amanda, lightly stroking Amanda's messy curls._

 _"Cops are holding off questioning her..." Renee whispered, Dean nodding. He looked at Amanda, who had even more quiet... and then he noticed the cut on her head._

 _"I think we should take her to the hospital, make sure there's no concussion." Dean said, carefully lifting Amanda up into his arms as Renee grabbed the bag and keys._

" _I… I just need to clean off first." Amanda spoke up, Dean and Renee steadying her on her feet before Amanda headed to the restroom and stripping down before she cleaned off._

 _The night had been calm with just her and Alex, finally giving into temptation… now it wasn't anymore._

 _Amanda eventually emerged from the shower, drying herself off before wrapping the towel around her and looking in the mirror... she didn't know who to be angrier at, herself or Seth._

 _Going to the hospital after getting dressed, she checked on Alex._

 _He was happy to see her… but he had no idea that the pretty woman would be his downfall, career wise…_

 **Present time…**

"Just because you have some problem with how she used to be doesn't give you the right to treat her like that! Mandy's a human being, you idiot!" Hunter yelled, Kevin looking at him after bandaging a bite on his left hand.

"When she proves to me that she's even half decent, then I'll consider backing off! Until then, if you want me to stop… well then you're just gonna have to show me to the door. And how would the fans react to that, do you think?" Kevin growled in response.

"Probably be glad to see you gone… only reason I won't is because of your family, they depend on you. But would I let this go? Not by a long-" Hunter responded before both heard a chainsaw rev up to life and the door was kicked open to reveal a livid Dean. "Ambrose, where the hell did you get a chainsaw?!" He asked loudly as Kevin bolted up in fright.

"I saw this on the desk in the creative team's meeting room and picked it up." Dean said casually but clearly angered. "You see… I get aggravated when someone calls my Shield Sister a whore, threatens to rip her male friend's cock off and then puts their hands on her! Did you think that was funny, Kevin?!" He yelled, Hunter forcing him to shut the chainsaw off.

"No, he doesn't! And he's gonna stop pushing her around or he's out the damn door!" Hunter responded before he turned to Kevin. "Punk thought he was untouchable too… you know damn well how that went!" He threatened before Kevin left.

It was the next day at the NXT tapings for March that Amanda, with a shorter haircut, had finished painting her nails a burnt orange color.

She closed the bottle and let her nails dry… after washing her hands, she heard a knock at the door and heard Finn open it.

"Leave her alone!" Finn replied, Amanda knowing it was Alex.

"In all honesty, I've known her longer-" Alex started to say.

"Does that excuse how you treated her the other night? Or not fighting for any kind of bond with her after that fight with Seth? _You_ walked away from Mandy, not the other way around!" Finn responded angrily.

"I was holding her together after the hell she went through! I loved her first and I can love her more than you!" Alex shouted, Finn punching him.

Alex fell and Finn turned after Amanda rested her right hand on his left shoulder.

"Go if you know what's good for you, Alex! Now!" Amanda responded, Alex picking himself up and leaving.

Amanda closed the door and she and Finn embraced each other.

Explaining their closeness to the ones looking in was never easy.


End file.
